1. Statement of the Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of user interface controls and more particularly, to optimizing display space in a graphical user interface.
2. Description of the Related Art
The conventional graphical user interface (GUI) has been widely used for many years. The primary function of the GUI includes providing user interface controls with which the end-user can interact with an underlying application. The common GUI includes many stock user interface controls, most of which, when combined, can accommodate most computer-human interactions required by an application. For example, the static text box control can be used to present text to the end-user while an edit box can permit the user to provide textual input to the application. A radio button control can provide for the exclusive selection of an element from among a field of elements, while a checklist box can control can provide for the non-exclusive selection of elements from among a field of elements.
Notably, a twistie control, as is known in the art, can include a iconic element such as an arrow or plus-sign, which when activated can cause a proximately positioned GUI element to expand to full form. Upon deactivation, the proximately positioned GUI element can collapse to a compact form. Concurrently, the iconic element can change its visual presentation so as to indicate the collapsed nature of the proximately positioned GUI element. As an example, in its expanded mode, the iconic element can appear as a downward facing arrow, while in its collapsed mode, the iconic element can appear as a sideways facing arrow. In any case, the toggling action of the twistie control can cause the repeated collapse and expansion of the proximately positioned GUI element.
When user interface controls are displayed in a GUI, often one must compromise between the amount of information which can be displayed within the GUI display, and the amount of displayable space within the GUI display in which a preferred amount of information can be presented. Where the display area must be reduced due to height and width constraints, information that otherwise might be easily grouped and viewed within a larger display space often cannot be presented as a single, cohesive set of interrelated interface controls. This circumstance has been known to arise in the use of pervasive devices, including handheld computers and portable cellular telephones. In the case of pervasive devices, the display area sometimes can be limited to as little as a 160 pixel by 160 pixel region or less.
In illustration of the foregoing deficiency, FIG. 1 is a pictorial illustration of a GUI browser which has rendered a markup language form having several user interface controls. A form 110 can include one or more edit boxes 120 in which an interacting end-user can provide data input 130. Each of the edit boxes 120 can be labeled with a static text control 140. As shown in the exemplary form 110, a text selection box 180 also can be provided from which the interacting end-user can select one textual selection 150 from among many textual selections 160. Also, those edit boxes 120 which are mandatory in nature can have associated therewith an iconic indicator 170 so as to indicate to the end-user that the associated edit box 120 must be completed.
As it will be recognized by one skilled in the art, the sheer vertical length of the exemplary form would require the use of scroll bar controls so as to permit the full use of the form 110 in a limited display area such as that found in a pervasive device. Yet, as will be apparent from the exemplary form 110, though the form 110 includes only twelve interface control fields, most of the length of the form 110 can be attributed to the vertical length of each edit box 120 and text selection box 140. In fact, in the case of the exemplary form 110, a full twenty-seven display lines are consumed by the mere twelve interface control fields.
Notably, user interface designers previously have recognized the inherent problems associated with presenting numerous user interface control elements in a limited display space, albeit those skilled artisans have not considered such problems in the context of the display in a pervasive device. Nevertheless, the problem has been treated in the context of complex menu sub-panels in the GUI of a standalone application. See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,657 to Berteig et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,801,703 to Bowden et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,588,107 to Bowden et al.
In each referenced case, however, the solution proposed included the collapsing of the complex menu sub-panels from an expanded state to a collapsed state. As such, the prior art collapsing mechanism collapses and expands all menu controls within the menu sub-panels as an aggregate unit. Individualized control is not possible in this regard. Moreover, in each of the Berteig and Bowden cases, once collapsed the contents of the collapsed menu sub-panel is not apparent from a visual inspection of the GUI alone. Moreover, as none of the foregoing references addresses the problems of individual user input control elements presented in a form, the issue of mandatory fields remains unaddressed by the references.